THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  IN 
THE  LIGHT  OF  MOD- 
ERN SCHOLARSHIP. 

Inaugural  Address  of  the 

Rev.  Joseph  J.  Lampe,  D.D.,  Ph.D., 

as  Professor  of  Old  Testament  Literature 

and  Exegesis. 


BStSO 
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SEPTEMBER  22,  t896. 


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INAUGURATION 


Rkv.  JOSEPH  J.  LAMPE,  d.d.,  ph.d. 


PROFESSOR 

.  OK 

OLD  TESTAMENT  LITERATURE 
AND  EXEGESIS. 


OMAHA: 

A.   L.    STONE  CYPHER.   PRINTEK. 

189(i. 


PROGRAM  OF  EXERCISES 

IN  CONNF.CTION  WITH  TIIK 

Inauguration  of  Rev.  Joseph  J.  liampe,  O.D.,Ph.O. 

...AS... 

l-'rofessor  of  O.  T.  Literature  and  Exe<;esis 

IN    THIi 

Presl>vterian  Theological   Seminary  at  Omaha,  Neb. 


First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Sept.  22,   1896. 


Organ. 

Hymn  No.  292. 

Scripture — Psalm  19. 

Anthem. 

Prayer. 

Subscription. 

Charge. 

Hkv.  S.        McCoumuk.  President  Boaril  of  Uirector.s 

Anthem — Choir. 

Inaugural  Address, 

Dk.    J.  .1.   L.^MPE. 

Hymn  No.  290. 
Benediction. 


.'.  ERRATA  .-. 

'.lire-  I.      On    llir   1  wi-nly-sfciiiiil    Urn-    lioiii     111'-    li)|i,     ln'lwi-i-ii 

"wiird"  anil  ■■iliiriiiir."  insrri,  "In  His  pcnplr.'' 
'iijji- S.      On   fi)urlli   liiii'    lidin    Iln-    Icip.    rcail      •I.acliish"    for 

■■riaohiscli." 
'aire  111.    Ill  foipliiolc  3.  (Ml  fom-lli  liiii'    I'lnm    llic    hnUdiii.    n-ail 

■nssui-iiiir"  fur  •■ussiirinir. ' 
'av'r  IS.   On  si'\iMiliM-iilli   lini'   I'rcMii    lln'   Imiiniii.    i-rad    •■mi|mi- 

naliiral"  for  "spirihial. " 
'Aiivil.   On    sixdi    lini'    frcni    ilir    li.Jlloni.    n-ail    --irials"   for 

■'Ic'ssniis." 


rilH.  CIlARCiK 


THE  KEY.   S.   B.    McCOKMICK. 


THE  CHARGE. 


My  Brother: 

It  is  impossible  for  tne  to  escape  the  feelinp  that  it  is 
somewhat  presumptuous  for  me  to  attempt  to  charge  i'ou 
concerning?  the  duties  of  your  Chair.  Nor  could  I  at  all 
venture  upon  the  task,  were  it  not  that  some  one  must  do 
it,  and  by  the  direction  of  the  Board  the  duty  has  been 
assie:ned  to  me. 

The  Chair  which  you  have  this  evening  formally  as- 
sumed in  this  Seminary,  is  a  most  ancient  and  honorable 
one,  and  has  a  most  distinguished  histoiy.  So  far  as  we 
know,  the  prophet  Samuel  organized  the  first  Theological 
Seminary,  and  surely  his  Chair  therein  wasthat  of  Hebrew 
Literature  and  Exegesis.  From  that  time  until  now, 
doubtless  with  very  few  and  very  brief  intervals  this  im- 
portant Chair  has  continued  to  be  occupied;  for  in  the 
instruction  given  in  connection  with  the  Jewish  syna 
gogues.  and  in  the  later  schools  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch, 
in  the  cloisters  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  in  the  schools 
and  seminaries  of  modern  times,  the  study  of  ancient 
Scripture  has  ever  been  preserved. 

You,  my  brother,  are  called  to  deal  with  the  oldest 
part  of  Holy  Scripture — that  which  formed  our  Lord's 
Bible,  and  which  was  the  source  whence  the  Apostles 
drew  their  prools  of  the  divine  mission  of  Christ.  It 
has  therefore  had,  from  the  very  beginning,  an  abiding 
and  secure  place  in  the  history  and  development  of  the 
Christian  Church.  It  is  not  alone  the  book  in  which  is 
found  the  germ  of  human  redemption,  and  the  prophecy 
of  a  Saviour  and  the  history  of  the  people  who  were  to 
become  the  custodians  of  God's  revelation,  and  from  whom 
should  spring  the  world's  Redeemer  ;  but,  as  is  eloquently 
shown  by  George  Adam  Smith  in  a  recent  address  in 
Chicago,  in  which  he  emphasized  the  service  which  the 
Old  Testament  has  rendered  in  the  education  of  the 
human   race,  it  is   the   book  which,  inspired  of  God,  has 


viii  Charge. 

itself  inspired  men  to  become  great  men  and  great  preach- 
ers and  great  reformers  and  great  law-givers  in  the  later 
centuries  of  the  world's  history.  Mighty  men  have  drunk 
deeply  at  its  pure  and  healthful  fountains  and  have  used 
the  ancient  Scripture  as  a  means  of  elevating  public  morals, 
securing  the  rights  of  the  people  and  directing  upward, 
along  holy  and  righteous  lines,  the  streams  of  civilization; 
and  this  because  they  have  "caught  in  it  the  authentic 
accents  of  the  word  of  God,  enforcing  not  only  his  law, 
but  a  very  full  and  clear  revelation  of  his  character  and 
his  ways  with  men." 

In  your  department  of  instruction  you  will  be 
compelled  to  face  questions  which  reach  to  the  very 
heart  of  revelation,  and  which  affect  both  the  fact 
and  the  possibility  thereof.  For  many  years  the  New 
Testament  was  bitterly  attacked  by  hostile  critics  who 
invented  countless  theories  to  account  for  the  existence  of 
the  various  books  on  other  than  natural  grounds.  A  tithe 
of  the  ingenuity  thus  displayed,  applied  to  mechanics, 
would  have  revolutionized  the  industrial  world.  In  this 
battle,  which  raged  furiously  for  many  years,  the  critics 
were  at  last  silenced  and  the  New  Testament  stood  forth, 
in  clearer  and  stronger  light,  as  a  book  of  absolute  and 
unquestioned  authority.  In  this  conflict  the  defenders 
of  the  truth  discovered  the  necessity,  first  of  all, 
of  settling  the  text  itself.  What  did  God  actually  cause 
to  be  written?  I  do  not  say,  for  I  do  not  know,  that  the 
defenders  of  the  Old  Testament  against  hostile  attack, 
must  first  of  all  lay  their  foundation  by  settling  the  text, 
as  was  done  in  the  New.  The  material  for  this  is  not 
sufSciently  known;  perhaps  may  never  be  discovered; 
indeed,  may  not  even  exist.  But  I  am  sure  that  many  years 
of  patient,  laborious,  painstaking,  unappreciated  work 
must  be  done  along  this  line  before  the  critics,  by  what- 
soever name  they  are  known,  can  reach  conclusions  which 
may  be  regarded  as  trustworthy.  It  is  necessary  not  alone 
to  perform  the  drudgery  of  scanning  manuscripts  and 
deciphering  words  and  letters  and  dots  and  marks;   but  it 


Charge.  ix 

is  also  necessary  to  become  familiar  with  other  tongues 
related  to  the  Hebrew,  and  with  all  the  wealth  of  learning 
which  throws  light  upon  tlie  history  and  literature  of  the 
Hebrew  language.  Already  has  archa3ology  made  havoc 
with  some  of  the  dogmatic  conclusions  of  men  who  deem 
their  literary  taste  sufficiently  trained  to  register  results 
that  are  infallibly  correct.  Professor  Sayce  (whom  I  do 
not  instance  as  in  all  respects  a  defender  of  orthodoxy; 
for  he  himself  says  that  his  work  will  satisfy  neither  the 
higher  critics  nor  their  extreme  opponents)  has  given  us 
some  idea  of  the  valuable  results  which  archaaological 
data  will  furnish.  The  critics  had  determined,  for  exam- 
ple, that  the  word  '^jy  was  of  late  origin,  and  upon  this 
had  l)ased  an  argument  denying  the  early  date  of  the 
Song  of  Songs.  But  a  small  hsomatite  weight,  found  on 
the  site  of  Samaria,  and  inscribed  with  letters  of  the 
eighth  century  B.  C,  and  which  is  undoubtedly  genuine, 
effectually  routs  the  literary  critics  in  this  instance  and 
absolutely  disposes  of  their  argument. 

For  myself,  I  cannot  but  think  that  a  most  fruitful 
field  for  study,  one  which  will  yield  an  abundant  harvest, 
is  that  of  paleography.  The  apparent  discrepancies  in  the 
text,  between  the  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint,  which  so 
perplex  the  careful  student  and  send  him  out  into  the 
uncertain  sea  of  speculation,  may  often  be  satisfactorily 
reconciled  by  the  study  of  the  forms  of  letters  in  partic- 
ular centui'ies  of  long  ago.  While  this  may  not  yield  all 
the  student  desires,  yet  it  is  perhaps  a  comparatively 
neglected  field  which  if  carefully  worked  may  discover 
to  us  new  domains  for  our  exploration.  We  do  not 
know  what  may  be;  but  it  is  within  the  possibilities 
that,  as  in  the  New  Testament,  God  gave  new  evidence 
just  as  men  were  faithful  in  working  up  to  where  it  was 
needed;  so,  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  men  are  faithful  in 
opening  up  to  light,  all  possible  sources  of  knowledge, 
God  will  discover  to  us  new  facts,  new  manuscripts,  new 
stones  and  inscriptions,  whereby  ultimate  certainty  may 
be  had  as  to  all  these  questions  relating  to  Hebrew  writ- 


X  Charge. 

ings.  The  marvellous  light  thrown  on  those  subjects  in 
recent  years,  each  time  confirming  Scripture,  gives  us 
ground  for  assured  confidence  that  the  history  of  the  New 
Testament  will  find  its  repetition  in  that  of  the  old,  and 
that  every  attack  upon  the  genuineness  and  truthfulness 
of  the  record  will  be  triumphantly  overthrown. 

With  all  these  questions,  you,  my  brother,  are  thor- 
oughly familiar  thi'ough  long  years  of  devoted  study.  It 
is  now  your  joy  and  delightful  privilege  to  guide  the  stu- 
dents under  your  care  into  this  wondrous  field  of  beauty 
and  knowledge.  You  will,  of  course,  as  the  first  step, 
without  which  the  hidden  riches  can  never  be  discovered, 
give  these  young  men  a  thorough  training  in  the  study  of 
the  Hebrew  language  itself.  This  means  for  you,  and  for 
them,  labor,  even  di-udgery.  But  as  you  will  see  some  of 
them  rightly  appreciating  the  strength  and  simplicity  of 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  which  was  honored  of  God  in  being 
made  the  medium  for  the  revelation  of  himself  in  the 
grand  old  Hebrew  religion,  your  reward  wi*H  begin  t& 
come.  These  you  will  lead  the  deeper  into  the  mystery 
and  power  of  God's  thought,  as  set  forth  in  the  forceful 
words  of  the  rugged  Hebrew  prophets.  And  so,  whatever 
progress  any  may  make  in  the  several  fields  of  Old  Testa- 
ment study,  you  will  put  into  their  hands  an  instrument, 
whereby  m  after  years  they  may  for  themselves  enter  in 
and  explore  the  mines  of  wealth,  and  bring  forth  for 
themselves  and  their  people  precious  things  from  the 
great  store-house  of  God's  marvellous  revelation. 

It  is  a  lofty  mission  to  which  you  have  been  called.  In 
a  little  while  you  will  begin  to  preach  to  many  congrega- 
tions, through  those  who  go  out  from  your  instruction  to 
proclaim  the  riches  of  God.  May  you  be  guided  and  kept 
in  your  work — the  most  important,  perhaps,  to  which 
God  calls  his  ministering  servants.  And  the  prayers  of 
the  Board  and  of  the  friends  of  the  Seminary  go  with  you. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  IN  THE  LIGHT 
OF  MODERN  SCHOLARSHIP. 

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOSEPH  J.  LAMPE,   D.D.,   Ph.D. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


Mr.  Pkesident.  Members  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
OF  THE  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  at 
Omaha,  and  Christian  Friends: 

It  is  gratifying  to  me  to  become  connected  with  this 
Seminary  in  its  infancy  and  thus  share  in  the  privilege  of 
helping  to  lay  foundations  on  which,  as  we  lirmly  believe, 
will  be  reared  an  institution  of  ever  increasing  usefulness 
in  the  Church  of  Christ.  This  pleasure  is  enhanced  by 
the  fact  that  the  work  to  which  you  have  called  me  is 
congenial  to  me.  I  regard  it  to  be  an  honor  also.  No 
greater  privilege  can  be  accorded  to  one,  who  desires  to 
devote  his  life  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  greatest  pos- 
sible good,  than  that  of  helping  to  train  young  men  for 
the  Gospel  ministry  and  to  qualify  them  to  exert  an  influ- 
ence among  men  for  truth  and  righteousness  and  eternal 
life. 

But  looking  at  the  responsibilities  of  my  appointed 
work.  T  am  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  my  own 
insufficiency  and  feel  that,  while  thanking  you  for  the 
honor  conferred,  I  must  also  ask  your  prayers  that  I  may 
ever  have  the  needed  grace  and  wisdom  for  a  right  dis- 
charge of  the  sacred  duties  which  will  devolve   upon  me. 

An  unusual  interest  centers  at  present  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Many  of  the  problems  which  thoughtful  men 
are  revolving  in  their  minds,  directly  concern  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures.  These  documents  have  something  to  say  on 
such  questions  as  cosmogony,  biology,  geology,  ethnology 
and  others,  with  all  of  which  modern  thought  is  earnestly 
grappling. 

But  the  Old  Testament  is  to-day  invested  with  a 
special  interest,  owing  to  the  antagonisms  which  it  en- 
counters. It  has  always  been  attacked  by  the  enemies  of 
a   supernatural  religion.     It   -'is  the  battlefield  just  now 


4-  The  Old  Testament 

upon  which  the  advocates  of  a  natural  and  supernatural 
origin  of  things  are  engaged  in  a  life  and  death  struggle."' 
A  rationalistic  criticism,  in  the  name  of  scientific  scholar- 
ship, claims  to  have  demonstrated  that  the  authenticity, 
the  genuineness,  the  trustworthiness  and  plenary  inspir- 
ation of  the  Old  Testament  books  are  no  longer  tenable, 
and  therefore  demands  that  they  be  modified  or  abandoned. 

The  proposition  is  revolutionary.  Par-reaching  con- 
sequences of  a  disastrous  nature  must  result  from  conced- 
ing such  a  claim.  For,  to  discredit  the  Old  Testament 
discredits  the  New  as  well  If  the  Old  Testament  is  not 
the  word  of  God  spoken  by  Moses  and  the  prophets,  then 
we  have  no  assurance  that  He  has  spoken  to  us  by  His 
Son  in  the  New.  Those  who  undermine  confidence  in 
Moses  and  the  prophets  inevitably  also  destroy  faith  in 
Christ,  since  they  testified  of  Him,  and  He  endorsed  them. 

True,  the  New  Testament  has  a  light  superior  to  that 
of  the  Old.  The  Old  Testament  does  not  contain  that  full 
and  complete  revelation  of  truth  which  we  have  in  the 
New.  But  we  are  not  warranted  on  that  account  to  dis- 
pense with  it.  Notwithstanding  the  incompleteness  of  its 
revelation,  it  was  God's  truthful  word  during  the  Old 
Testament  ages  by  which  they  were  prepared,  in  process 
of  time,  for  the  reception  of  the  more  complete  revelation 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  will  therefore  always  be  true, 
and  necessary  also,  as  a  guide  for  the  correct  understand- 
ing of  the  New. 

The  Old  Testament  is  the  foundation  of  the  New,  and 
hence  its  destruction  involves  that  of  the  New  also.  If  the 
Old  Testament  can  be  shown  to  be  a  conglomerate  of  fable 
and  fiction,  the  New  must  sink  into  the  same  category. 
The  two  Testaments  must  stand  or  fall  together.  We 
assuredly  believe  that  both  will  stand.  The  destructive 
criticism  has  not  made  a  single  breach  in  our  strong  cita- 
del, but  is  itself  so  seriously  damaged,  by  opposing  facts 
and  logic,  as  to  warrant  the  hope  of  its  speedy  and  com- 
plete  discomfiture.      The   so-called    higher    criticism   is 

1  Inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament,  by  Alfred  Cave,  B.  A.,  p.  15. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  5 

to-day  in  a  thofou<i:lily  discredited  condition. 

The  Church  of  Christ  iiad  for  centuries  so  fully  ac- 
cepted the  Old  Testament  as  the  inspired  word  of  God' 
that,  in  a  sense  of  security,  it  had  ceased  carefully  to 
study  the  problems  which  are  involved  in  its  literature. 
This  was  largely  the  case  even  with  ministers.  When, 
therefore,  the  rationalistic  attack  on  its  integrity,  which 
had  been  long  in  preparation,  was  made,  many  in  the 
Church  found  themselves  so  utterly  unprepared  to  meet  it 
that  they  at  once  capitulated  with  ihe  enemy.  The  situ- 
ation, however,  does  not  require  capitulation,  but  an  ex- 
amination of  our  sure  defenses  and  a  refurbishing  of  our 
weapons  of  defense  to  resist  the  assault. 

The  exigencies  of  the  Church  now  demand  that  the 
rising  ministry  be  qualified  to  restore  and  propogate  that 
true  knowledge  of  these  Old  Scriptures  which,  with  the 
blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  shall  convince  men  that  they 
are  indeed  the  truthful  word  of  God  on  which  they  can 
rest  with  entire  certainty.  In  conjunction  with  my  fellow 
professors,  it  will  be  my  aim  to  maintain  the  integrity  of 
the  whole  Bible,  and  to  train  a  ministry  qualified  to  pro- 
claim it  to  a  lost  world  as  the  word  of  God. 

My  theme,  then,  this  evening  will  be,  "The  Old  Test- 
ament in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship."  Let  me 
remind  you  at  the  outset  that  rationalistic  critics  are  not 
the  only  Biblical  scholars  worth  hearing.  There  is  a  large 
number  of  scholars,  easily  the  peers  of  these  critics,  who 
differ  from  them,  and  whose  conclusions,  because  reached 
from  a  wider  field  of  induction,  are  entitled  to  more  favor- 
able consideration.  In  the  broad  light  of  modern  scholar- 
ship we  confidently  affirm  of  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures— 

I.  Their  historic  verity.  It  is  true  that  they  do  not 
give  us  a  systematic  treatise  on  either  history  or.  science. 
What  they  say,  however,  in  these  departments  is  invari- 
ably correct.  It  will  be  admitted  that  the  Old  Testament 
not  only  claims  to  speak  truth,  but  that  the  spirit  of 
truthfulness  pervades  the  whole  of  it.     An  air  of  veracity 


6  The  Old  Testament' 

invests  it  from  beginning  to  end. 

The  higher  critics  impeach  its  historical  and  scientific 
accuracy,  and  affirm  that  the  earliest  books  particularly 
are  full  of  myths  and  legends.  But  they  have  reached 
this  conclusion  on  the  narrow  basis  of  a  minute  literary 
analysis  and  nice  distinctions  in  words,  style  and  modes^ 
of  thought  of  a  dead  oriental  language,  as  found  in  the 
Old  Testament,  without  outside  comparison.  Such  a  mode 
of  reasoning  is  extremely  unreliable,  even  in  a  living- 
Western  language,  where  we  have  the  largest  opportunity 
for  comparison.  It  is  of  a  piece  with  the  assertion  of  a 
German  scholar,  that,  without  ever  having  seen  it.  he 
could  give  a  correct  description  of  the  river  Rhine  from: 
examining  a  few  specimens  of  flowers  and  stones  which 
had  been  brought  to  him  from  its  banks.  No  certain 
results  can  be  reached  by  such  a  method. 

Then  also,  the  view  of  the  destructive  critics  antago- 
nizes the  unanimous  belief  of  centuries.  The  great  Hebrew 
scholars  of  antiquity,  who  were  men  conspicuous  for  their 
integrity,  and  who  thoroughly  understood  the  customs  of 
their  people  and  their  peculiarities  of  thought  and  speech 
when  the  language  was  still  a  living  one,  testify  to  the 
full  integrity  of  these  Scriptures.  The  conclusion  of  the 
critics  must  therefore  be  discounted  for  the  double  reasoc 
that  they  are  at  best  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with  their 
material,  and  that  their  induction  is  from  an  altogether 
too  narrow  array  of  facts. 

Blinded  by  his  theory,  the  higher  critic  lacks  impar- 
tiality no  less  than  exhaustiveness.  He  does  not  avail 
himself  of  all  accessible  sources  of  information,  and  is  in 
the  habit  of  distorting  unwelcome  facts.  Defective  in  his- 
torical insight,  he  has  lost  the  power  to  estimate  the  real- 
ity of  history.  His  philosophy  leads  him  to  idealize 
history,  and  to  conceive  of  historic  facts  as  manufactured 
to  suit  the  theory.  Many  of  the  higher  critics  go  so  far 
as  to  charge  fraud  and  conspiracy  on  the  writers  of  the 
Old  Testament.  On  this  theory  nothing  whatever  can  be 
determined  in   respect  to  the  past.     But,  a  theory  which 


m  the  Light  df  Modern  'Scholarship.  7 

makes  a  stupendous  absurdity  of  all  history  coudeinns 
itself. 

Not  only  has  a  deeper  study  of  the  Scripture  resulted 
in  confounding-  the  destructive  critics  on  their  own  chosen 
line  of  investigation,  but  a  multitude  of  new  witnesses  has 
come  to  the  front  to  continn  the  truth  of  God's  Word. 
Learned  men  have  had  their  atteniion  directed  to  th« 
Orient.  The  historian,  the  surveyor,  the  geologist,  the 
botanist,  the  zoologist,  the  meteorologist,  the  archaeolo- 
gist, and  men  in  otlier  departments  of  science,  have  pros- 
ecuted their  researches  in  Bible  lands,  and  have  accumu- 
lated volumes  of  testimony  to  corroborate  the  writings  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets. 

It  is  the  glory  of  this  last  half  of  the  19th  century 
that  God  is  giving  the  world  a  secondary  revelation  to 
confirm  his  first  great  revelation  in  the  written  word.  The 
records  of  those  Eastern  nations,  who  more  than  once 
aimed  to  destroy  the  Hebrews,  have  suddenly  been  recov- 
ered by  the  spade  of  the  explorer  and  the  patient  skill  of 
the  decipherer  to  declare  the  truthfuln-ess  of  their  Scrip- 
tures. 

We  are  permitted  to  see  again  that  ancient  world  as  it 
was  when  God  called  Abraham  from  Ur  to  Canaan,  when 
Israel  were  slaves  in  Egypt,  when  Moses  condrcted  them 
through  the  wilderness  and  gave  them  laws  at  Sinai,  when 
Joshua  led  them  into  the  Promised  Land,  when  David  sang 
his  sacred  lyrics,  when  Daniel  prophesied  in  Babylon,  and 
when  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  built  the  second  temple.  The 
earth  has  opened  her  mouth.  The  very  stones  are  crying 
out.  Sculptured  monuments,  engraved  monoliths,  clay 
tablets,  baked  bricks,  ciphered  cylinders,  pottery,  coins 
and  jewelry  unearthed  at  Babylon,  Assyria,  Persia,  Ara- 
bia, Palestine  and  Egypt,  come  forth  to  bear  their  testi- 
mony. Buried  cities,  great  libraries,  the  treasure  houses 
of  ancient  kings  have  been  brought  to  light,  and,  with 
them,  lost  languages  and  old  records,  all  of  which  pro- 
claim the  historic  verity  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 

Until  very  recently  rationalistic  critics    contended 


8  The  Old  Testament 

that  the  art  of  writing  was  unknown  until  centuries  after 
the  Mosaic  age,  and  that  therefore  Moses  could  not  pos- 
sibly have  written  the  Pentateuch.  But  excavations  made 
at  Tel-el- Amarna  and  Lachisch,  at  Nineveh  and  in  Arabia 
reveal  the  fact  that  writing  was  understood  centuries 
before  Abraham's  day,  and  that  the  age  of  Moses  was  one 
of  extensive  learning  and  of  the  highest  literary  activity'. 
Records  come  to  us  from  near  the  time  of  the  Deluge, 
which  makes  it  possible  that  the  account  which  we  have 
in  Genesis  of  that  great  catastrophe  is  that  of  an  eye- 
witness. 

Prom  East  to  West  letters  were  going  to  and  fro. 
They  wrote  books  on  burnt  clay  and  preserved  them  in 
libraries.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  learning,  of  libraries 
and  schools,  it  is  impossible  that  the  Hebrews,  with  their 
intense  mental  activity,  should  have  remained  a  barbarous 
people.  The  house  of  bondage  had  also  been  the  school 
of  their  enlightenment. 

Moses,  equipped  with  the  best  education  which  the 
foremost  nation  of  that  time  afforded,  being  a  man  of  wide 
experience  and  of  great  mental  and  moral  resources,  and 
having,  too,  at  his  command  the  gathered  lore  of  all  the 
nations,  was  precisely  the  one  man  who  was  well  qualified 
to  write  a  book  like  the  Pentateuch.  In  view  of  all  that 
he  was  and  did,  and  of  the  opportunities  which  we  now 
know  he  possessed,  it  would  have  been  simply  marvellous 
if  he  had  not  written  some  document  of  the  kind.  Why 
should  all  other  nations  keep  a  record  of  their  important 
laws  and  events,  and  not  the  Hebrews? 

Obviously,  it  was  part  of  Moses'  work  to  mould  the 
Hebrew  people  into  a  strong,  united  nation,  and  inspire 
them  with  hope  and  courage  for  the  great  task  which 
confronted  them.  What  could  be  better  adapted  to  that 
end  than  the  book  of  Genesis,  which  traces  their  glorious 
lineage,  and  reminds  them  of  their  high  position,  as  the 
chosen  people  of  Jehovah,  to  whom  all  the  promises  were 
made?  and  what  more  natural,  therefore,  than  that  Moses 

1  Recent  Research  in  Bible  Lands,  pp.  116, 117. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  9 

should  write  it?  For  forty  years  he  had  dwelt  in  Arabia, 
which  had  for  centuries  been,  and  was  at  that  time,  the 
center  of  great  literary  activity,  and  where  circulated 
freely  that  Babylonian  literature  which  gave  an  account 
of  the  most  important  events  of  the  world  from  the  crea- 
tion down. 

Moses,  therefore,  had  the  qualification  and  all  the 
needed  material  for  writing  the  book  of  Genesis.  There 
is  strong  evidence  to  show  that  it  could  not  have  been 
written  later  than  his  time.  We  have  a  high  degree  of 
probability,  therefore,  that  the  Scriptures  in  assigning  it 
to  that  age  and  author  are  entirely  correct.  It  was  the 
summons  of  Moses  to  Israel  to  separate  themselves  to 
Jehovah,  and  his  introduction  to  the  other  four  books  of 
the  Ptmtateuch.  All  the  latest  discoveries  in  Bible  lands 
add  strong  contirmation  to  this  Scriptui-e  claim. 

But  the  historic  verity  of  the  Old  Testament  will 
appear  to  better  advantage  by  instancing  a  number  of 
particulars. 

The  primitive  historj-  of  Genesis,  which  narrates 
events  of  what  may  be  called  pre-historic  times,  is  in 
striking  accord  not  only  with  the  universal  tiaditions  of 
the  ethnic  faiths,  but  also  with  the  historic  and  scientific 
facts  which  the  most  recent  Oriental  research  has  brought 
to  light. 

The  record  of  creation  in  Genesis  was  long  regarded 
as  hopelessly  at  variance  with  natural  facts.  But  the  eth- 
nic traditions,  of  which  we  have  the  best  specimen  on  the 
Chaldean  tablets,  essentially  agree  with  Genesis.  The 
chaotic  condition  of  the  earth  previous  to  the  creative 
days,  the  order  of  creation,  the  introduction  of  light,  veg- 
etation and  animal  life,  the  preparation  of  the  earth  for 
man,  and  then  his  creation,  as  pictured  on  the  tablets- 
give  us  a  cosmogny  which  is  in  close  agreement  with  the 
Hebrew  record.  They  also  agree  with  Genesis  in  making 
the  Sabbath  a  primitive  instead  of  a  Jewish  institution. 

Science  now  also  affirms  the  creation  record  of  Gen- 
esis  to  be  correct.     Says  Professor  Dawson:  "We  have 


lo  The  Old  1  estament 

here  a  consistent  scheme  of  the  development  of  the  solar 
system,  and  especially  of  the  earth,  agreeing  in  the  main 
with  the  results  of  modern  astronomy  and  geology.  It 
would  not  be  easy  now  to  construct  a  statement  of  the 
development  of  the  world  in  popular  terms  so  concise  and 
accurate.  "1  Such  eminent  scientists  as  LaPlace,  Guyot 
and  Dana  hold  similar  views.  Professor  Dana  says,  tnat 
from  a  purely  scientific  point  of  view,  the  first  chapter  of 
<jrenesis  is  a  true  "epitome  of  creation  in  a  few  compre- 
hensive annunciations." 

The  ethnic  traditions  agree  also  closely  with  Genesis 
in  what  it  says  of  the  edenic  bliss  of  man,  his  fall  into  sin, 
and  the  serpent  as  connected  with  the  origin  of  evil; 
while  science  credits  Moses  with  the  correct  location  of 
the  garden  of  Eden,  and  with  a  true  description  of  the 
character  of  the  ante-diluvian  man.- 

Science  also  has  its  deluge  which.  Professor  Dawson 
thinks,  was  of  wider  range  than  that  intended  by  the 
writer  of  Genesis.  Geology  divides  the  human  period 
into  two  parts  by  a  submergence  of  the  land  which  result- 
ed in  a  terrible  destruction  of  human  and  animal  life.  The 
geological  deluge  was  once  considered  to  have  been  much 
more  ancient  than  that  of  Noah,  but  recent  discoveries 
have  tended  greatly  to  strengthen  the  probability  of  their 
identity  as  to  date.  The  inherent  credibility  of  the  He- 
brew record  has  thus  strong  corroboration  in  natural 
facts.' 

It  is,  moreover,  in  close  accord  with  historical  testi- 
mony. All  the  ethnic  faiths  have  preserved  the  memory 
of  this  great  catastrophe.     It  is  the  most  universal  of  all ' 

1  Eden  Lost  and  Won,  p.  .tO. 

2  Eden  Lost  and  Won,  p.  87. 

3  Professor  Dawson  says:  "This  earliest  human  age  is  separated  from  the 
ordinary  historic  period,  according  to  Genesis,  by  the  Deluge  of  Noah,  and  accord- 
ing to  Geology  by  the  great  post-glacial  submergence  which  marks  the  division 
between  Palanthropic  man  with  his  contemporary  animals,  and  the  men  and  ani- 
mals of  the  Neanthropic  age The  two  records  agree  in  ussuring  us  that  this 

submergence  was  of  short  duration,  and  that  it  destroyed  many  of  the  wild  animals 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  men  of  the  period."  Eden  Lost  and  Won,  p.  82.  See  also 
Modern  Science  in  Bible  Lands,  pp.  253,  254. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  i  r 

traditions.  They  all  tell  of  the  destruction  of  the  human 
race  by  a  great  Hood,  tlie  preservation  of  one  family  in  a 
boat,  and  the  re-peopling  of  the  earth  by  this  family.  The 
account  of  the  Chaldean  tablets  bears  to  the  record  of 
Genesis  a  remarkably  close  resemblance.  Archscologists 
say  that  the  Chaldean  narrative,  in  its  original  form, 
antedates  the  days  of  Abraham,  and  pre-supposes  the  rec- 
ord of  Genesis  in  its  integrity.  It  agrees  with  both  the 
so-called  Ekihistic  and  Jehovistic  documents  of  the  higher 
critics,  and  thus  completely  annihilates  their  documentary 
hypothesis.  The  record  did  not  originate  centuries  after 
Moires.  but  existed  in  its  entirety,  as  its  form  indicates, 
soon  after  the  Deluge. 

History  and  science  point  also  to  the  correctness  of 
the  record  of  Genesis  respecting  the  Dispersion  at  Babel, 
and  agree  with  its  view  as  to  the  original  unity  of  the 
race  and  language  of  man. 

The  agreement  of  the  ethnic  faiths  with  Genesis  is 
not  the  result  of  one  copying  from  the  other.  It  argues 
for  an  original  account  of  actual  events  which  they  all 
possessed  in  common,  each  branch  of  the  human  family 
transmitting  it  in  its  own  way,  and  of  which  we  have  the 
most  ancient  and  correct  form  in  Genesis.  The  fact  that 
the  ethnic  traditions  have  nothing  in  common  with  Gene- 
sis after  the  Dispersion  is  jiroof  that  they  did  not  copy 
from  it.  Had  they  drawn  from  it  they  would  have  made 
mention  of  subsequent  events  and  persons.  That  Genesis 
did  not  copy  after  the  ethnic  faiths  is  sufficiently  proved 
by  its  purity,  simplicity  and  scientific  accuracy. 

Modern  ethnologists  continually  find  anticipations  of 
their  greatest  discoveries  in  the  10th  chapter  of  Genesis, 
in  which  we  have  a  geographical  chart  of  the  nations  of 
the  earth  and  of  their  afiinities.  The  triple  division  into 
which  this  ancient  document  distributes  mankind,  and  the 
boundaries  which  it  assigns  to  the  different  human  famil- 
ies, are  ascertained  to  be  absolutely  correct.  "All  modern 
research  has  vindicated  its  accuracy,"  says  Dawson.  Con- 
trary to  all  previous  opinion,  the  Chaldean  inscriptions 


12  The  Old  Testament 

have  shown  that  Genesis  is  minutely  accurate  in  assigning- 
a  Hamitic  population  to  Babylon,  and  a  Shemitic  one  to- 
Assyria  and  Elam.^  Karl  Ritter,  the  eminent  German 
ethnologist,  says  that  "In  geography,  as  well  as  in  eth- 
nography, no  writings  of  antiquity  are  so  corroborated  by 
modern  research  as  this  passage  in  Genesis."' 

The  cuneiform  inscriptions  have  made  the  14th  chap- 
ter of  Genesis  perfectly  intelligible.  The  monuments 
record  the  names  of  Chedorlaomer  and  his  allied  kings, 
and  confirm  the  fact  that  they  invaded  Palestine  at  the 
time  indicated  by  Scripture  chronology.'  The  events 
recorded  in  that  chapter,  the  customs  and  political  rela- 
tions assumed,  truly  picture  the  history  of  that  time  and 
of  the  countries  involved.  The  names  of  places  and  of 
men  have  been  identified,  and  the  description  of  the 
nature  of  the  country  about  the  cities  of  the  plain  corres- 
ponds with  ascertained  natural  facts.  The  age  of  the 
patriarchs  has  indeed  been  put  in  the  full  glare  of  history. 
Long  before  Abraham's  day,  Babylonians  had  migrated 
westward,  their  kings  had  made  Canaan  tributary  to  their 
crown,  and,  at  the  time  of  his  migration,  a  Babylonian 
monai'ch  claimed  kingship  over  Palestine.* 

Geographical  survey  and  modern  research  have 
thrown  a  flood  of  light  over  all  that  portion  of  Old  Testa- 

1  Genesis  10:8.10,11. 

2  Bibliotheca  Sacra.  1S74,  p.  163. 

3  Rawliiison  aays,  "The  monumental  records  of  Babylonia  bear  marks  of  an 
irruption  in  the  native  line  of  kings,  about  the  date  which  from  Scripture  we  should 
assign  to  Cheldorlaomer  and  point  to  Elymais  (or  Elam)  as  tlie  country  from  whicli 
the  irruption  came.  We  have  mention  of  a  king,  whose  name  is  on  good  ground 
identified  with  Chelorlaomer,  as  paramount  in  Babylonia— a  king  apparently  of 
Elamitic  origin — and  this  monarch  bears  in  the  inscriptions  the  unusual  and 
significant  title  of  Apda  Marta,  or  Ravager  of  the  West."— Historical  Evidences, 
page  73. 

4  "The  conclusion  is  in  accordance  with  what  the  inscriptions  of  Babylonia 
itself  teach  us.  We  learn  from  them  that  Babylonian  conquerors  had  made  their 
way  to  Palestine  in  the  gray  dawn  of  history,  and,  in  the  age  of  Abraham,  a  Baby- 
lonian monarch  still  calls  himself  king  of  the  land  of  the  .\morites,the  name  under 
which  Syria  and  Palestine  were  then  known.  We  could  not  desire  a  belter  contiim- 
ation  of  the  truth  of  that  Old  Testament  history  which  tells  us  how  Aliraham,  the 
Chaldean,  migrated  to  the  West,  liow  Babylonian  princes  ruled  and  warred  in 
Canaan  in  the  life-time  of  the  patriarch,  and  how,  at  a  later  period,  'a  goodly  Baby- 
lonian garment'  was  among  the  spoils  of  Jerieho."— Professor  Sayce  in  "Recent  Re- 
search in  Bible  Lands,  p.  118. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  ij 

mont  history  which  extends  from  the  patriarchal  age  to 
the  settlement  of  Israel  in  the  Promised  Land.'  The 
inscriptions  show  that  we  have  in  the  Pentateuch  and 
Joshua  a  faithful  contemporaneous  history.  The  history 
of  Joseph  and  of  Israel  in  Egypt  is.  to  the  minutest  par- 
ticular, true  to  Egyptian  customs,  laws -and  geography. 
The  statement  of  Exodus,  that  God  wrote  the  Decalogue 
with  his  own  finger  on  tablets  of  stone,  reflects  a  practice 
of  the  time.  The  Miuean  inscriptions  show  that  that 
was  then  the  customary  way  of  writing  in  Arabia.  Most 
of  the  steps  of  Israel  in  their  march  to  liberty  have  been 
trat-ed.  The  stations  on  the  route  of  the  Exodus  have 
been  identified.  The  boundaries  as  drawn  in  the  book  of 
Numbers  are  entirely  correct.  The  numerous  geograph- 
ical particulars  in  Joshua  are,  one  after  another,  receiv- 
ing verification.  In  his  "Tent  Work  in  Palestine." Major 
Oonder  says,  "Of  all  the  long  catalogue  in  Joshua,  there 
is  scarce  a  village,  however  insignificant,  which  does  not 
retain  its  desolate  heap  of  modern  hovels,  with  Arab 
equivalents  to  the  old  names. "^ 

The  record  of  "the  three-score  cities,"  all  of  which 
"were  fenced  with  high  walls,  gates  and  bars,"  in  the 
stnall  dominion  of  Og,  king  of  Bashan.  and  wliich  seemed 
so  evidently  mythical  to  the  higher  critics,  is  in  harmony 
with  the  discoveries  of  modern  research.  A  number  of 
wailed  cities  are  still  found  there,  and  they  bear  witness 

1  Treating  of  the  Iniiiortant  beHring  "  hich  this  kind  of  worli  has  in  conflrm- 
lug  tile  accuracy  and  trustworthiness  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  Professor  Dawson 
says:  "The  authors  of  the  report  on  (l.c  Sinai  .Survey  mal;e  no  pretension  to  be 
eilher  critics  or  expositors  of  the  Bible,  and  t bey  are  prepared  to  sny  what  they  see, 
independently  of  the  consequences  to  any  one.  Ut  nee  it  is  most  iublructive  to  ob- 
serve how,  as  they  unsparingly  sweep  away  old  traditions  and  the  conjectures  of 
travellers  and  historians,  ancient  and  modern,  the  origiiinl  record  stands  in  all  its 
Integrity,  like  the  stones  of  some  cromlech  from  which  men  have  dug  away  the 
earth  under  which  it  has  been  buried."— "Modern  Science  in   Bible  Lands,"  p.  111. 

2  Lex  Mosaica,  p.  HI. 

"In  tracing  the  boundaries  of  the  tribes  the  surveyors  found  reason  to  look 
upon  the  book  of  Joshua  as  the  Domesday  Book  of  Palestine.  The  towns  in  a  dist- 
rict are  all  mentioned  together,  and  in  such  consecutive  topographical  order  that 
many  Scripture  sites  could  be  identilicd  from  this  very  circumstance.  The  tribal 
boundaries  are  shown  to  be  almost  entirely  natural,  namely,  rivers,  ravines,  ridges, 
and  the  watershed  lines  of  the  country."— "Burled  Cities  and  Bible  Countries,"  p. 
140. 


r4  The  Old  lestament 

to  the  correctness  with  which  the  Hebrew  writer  sketched 
the  customs  and  numbers  of  that  ancient  people. 

The  Pentateuch  alone  contains  the  expression,  ''the 
land  of  Canaan."  This  the  critics  have  pointed  out  as 
proof  that  the  i-edactor  of  a  late  date  fraudulently  put  it 
there  with  the  pious  intent  of  giving  an  air  of  antiquity  to 
the  document  and  of  making  it  pass  as  a  truthful  account 
of  God's  dealing  with  his  people.  But  the  Egyptian  tab- 
lets show  that  Canaan  was  the  name  given  to  Palestine  at 
the  time  of  the  Exodus,  and  its  presence  in  the  Penta- 
teuch therefore  is  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  that 
document. 

In  enumerating  the  precious  stones  which  were  set  in 
Aaron's  breastplate,  Moses  named  the  "jasper,"  a  word 
which  the  critics  claimed  to  be  derived  from  the  Greeks. 
If  that  were  so.  it  would  raise  a  presumption  in  favor  of 
the  contention  that  the  Pentateuch  was  not  written  until 
centuries  after  Moses.  But  the  critics  were  again  doomed 
to  be  discredited.  An  Egyptian  inscription  of  the  time  of 
the  Exodus  contains  the  name,  and  proves  that  Moses, 
in  using  it,  was  strictly  accurate. 

Other  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  bear  the  same  tests. 
The  historical  books  are  not  a  collection  of  haphazard 
writings,  but  trustworthy  records  of  actual  events.  The 
history  of  the  judges,  of  David,  of  Solomon,  and  of  the 
whole  line  of  kings,  is  authentic.  No  one  can  now  separ- 
ate David  from  the  authorship  of  the  psalms;  and  the 
inscriptions  proclaim  Daniel's  book  to  be  a  contemporane- 
ous Babylonian  production. 

The  disciepancy,  which  was  thought  to  be  connected 
with  the  introduciion  of  the  name  "Pal"  in  Scripture,  as 
one  of  the  Assyrian  kings  has  been  satisfactorily  explained 
by  the  ascertained  fact  that  Pttl  and  Tiglath-Pileser  III  are 
identical,  as  might  have  been  inferred  from  the  accurate 
information  contained  in  I  Chronicles  5:26. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  aj^parent  discrepancy  in  the 
number  of  talents  which  were  delivered  by  Hezekiah  to 
Sennacharib.     Hezekiah  says  he  gave  but  three  hundred, 


in  the  Light  0/  Modern  Scholarship.  1 5 

while  Sennacharib  claims  to  have  received  eight  hundred. 
But  it  has  now  been  ascertained  that,  while  the  Hebrew 
and  Assyrian  gold  talents  were  the  same,  three  Hebrew 
silver  talents  were  eqivalent  to  eight  Assyrian  of  that 
metal.  Again  the  Old  Hebrew  Scripture  is  found  to  be 
strictly  correct. 

Until  quite  recently  it  was  the  universal  scientific 
opinion  that  the  Old  Testament,  in  saying  that,  "the  coney 
clieweth  the  end"  and  that  ants  "prepare  their  went  in  sum- 
mer," convicted  itself  of  scientific  blunders.  It  was  con- 
tended that  no  such  conies  and  ants  ever  existed.  But 
the  latest  verdict  of  science  holds  thai  the  above  state- 
ments respecting  the  habits  of  these  animals  are  "in 
accordance  with  the  accurately  ascertained  facts  of  nat- 
ural history."'  In  allusion  to  this  fact  so  authoritative  an 
author  as  the  late  Mr.  f\omaues  said  of  Scripture  writers, 
"Our  attention  as  naturalists  is  arrested  by  the  accuracy 
of  tVieir  observations. ■■- 

A  careful  compari-son,  therefore,  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment with  the  latest  results  in  many  fields  of  investigation 
reveals  its  pre-eminent  truthfulness.  It  comes  unscathed 
out  of  every  test.  The  writers  of  these  old  Scriptures 
loom  up  as  men  of  rare  intelligence  and  accuracy.  They 
are  invariably  true  to  their  historical  and  geographical 
view-point.  Whether  they  describe  events  which  occurred 
in  Egypt,  the  Arabian  desert,  Canaan  or  Babylon,  they 
give  in  each  case  the  ideas  and  aspects  appropriate  to 
the  place  and  time.  In  all  references  to  geographical 
land  marks,  names  of  places  and  persons,  geological 
structure;  physical  features;  the  climate,  flowers,  animals 
and  stones;  the  laws,  customs  and  government  of  the  peo- 
ple, they  are  uniformly  correct.  This  marvellous  accuracy 
extends  even  to  the  poetical  books.  Do  we  fully  appreci- 
ate this  wonderful  fact?  On  an  extensive  comparison  it 
becomes  evident  that  the  Scriptui'es  are  pre-eminent  over 
all  other  literature   ancient  and  modern,    for  their   truth- 

1  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  Edition  of  18'J3. 

2  The  Homlletic  Review.  January,  1896;  p.  18. 


1 6  The  Old  Testament 

fulness.  This  external  proof  of  their  accuracy  is  greatlj' 
strengtheced  by  their  internal  coherence  and  the  testimo- 
ny which  one  part  bears  to  the  other. 

The  time  is  past  when  such  documents  can  be  stigma- 
tized as  a  collection  of  old  myths  and  fables.  Their  histo- 
ric verity  has  been  firmly  established  "We  possess  an 
abundance  of  contemporary  records  which  enable  us  to 
test  the  truthfulness  and  credibility  of  the  narratives  that 
the  Old  Testament  has  preserved.  And  the  narratives 
fully  stand  the  test."'  Professor  McCurdy  has  well  said, 
"The  stadium  of  needed  vindication  of  the  historical  ac- 
curacy of  the  Old  Testament  is  now  as  good  as  past  in  our 
progress  towards  the  final  goal  of  truth  and  knowledge."^ 
These  Scriptures  are  all  authentic.  They  give  evidence 
of  coming  from  intelligent  eyewitnesses.  Every  wheie 
they  bear  the  stamp  of  contemporaneousness.  Modern 
investigations  in  science  and  archeology  are  accumulating 
evidence  that  even  the  earliest  portions  on  Genesis,  with 
the  exception  of  the  unique  record  of  the  creation,  con- 
tain the  narratives  of  intelligent  eye-witnesses  which 
Moses  utilized  in  their  composition.' 

1  Recent  Research  in  Bible  Lands,  page  111. 

2  Recent  Research  in  Bible  Lands,  page  28. 

3  Speaking  of  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesie,  Professor  Dawson  says,  "I  have 
already  referred  to  the  early  date  of  this  document,  and  the  notes  of  an  historical 
character  interspersi'd,  and  which  might  be  supposed  to  be  later  additions,  all 
keep  within  the  same  limits.  The  writer  never  by  any  chance  shows  the  least 
knowledge  of  the  subsequent  history  of  the  pt-oples  to  whom  he  refers.  It  is  scarce- 
ly possible  to  imagine  a  later  writer  persevering  in  such  reticence."  Eden  Lost  and 
Won,  page  113.  Respecting  the  record  of  the  Deluge,  he  says,  "It  is  also  to  be 
observed  that  the  narrative  in  Genesis  purports  to  be  that  of  an  eye-witness.  He 
notes  the  going  into  the  ark,  the  closins  of  its  door,  the  first  floating  of  the  large 
ship,  then  its  drifting,  then  the  disappearance  of  visible  land,  and  the  minimum 
depth  of  fifteen  cubits,  probably  representing  the  draft  of  water  of  the  ark.  Then 
we  have  the  abating  of  the  waters,  with  an  intermittent  action,  'going  and  return- 
ing,'the  grounding  of  the  ark,  the  gradual  appearance  of  surrounding  hills,  the 
disappearance  of  the  water,  and,  finally,  the  drying  of  the  ground.  All  this,  if  his- 
toricalin  any  degree,  must  consist  of  the  notes  of  an  eye-witness."  Modern  Sciencei 
page  254. 

To  the  same  purport,  in  connection  with  what  he  had  said  before,  are  his  re- 
marks on  the 'lescription  of  the  site  of  Eden  in  Genesis:  "We  have,  therefore, 
arrived,  on  infallible  evidence  furnished  by  geology,  geography  and  history,  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  o:  iginal  author  of  the  document  of  which  the  second  chapter  of 
Genesis  forms  a  portion,  flourished  somewhere  between  the  the  tims  of  the  Deluge 
and  that  of  the  patriarch  Abraham.  This  conclusion  cannot  now  be  shaken  by  any 
literary  criticism,  and  is  in  every  way  likely  to  be  further  confirmed  by  new  discov- 
eries." Eden  Lost  and  Won,  page  76. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  17 

II.  Secondly,  Theik  Supernatural  Contents. 
Being  a  first-class  authority  in  matters  of  common  human 
knowledge,  the  question  arises:  Does  the  Old  Testament 
also  give  reliable  information  in  its  narration  of  events 
which  are  strictly  supernatural?  Is  human  history  trust- 
worthy wliich  purports  to  relate  what  God  has  said  and 
done?  Can  man  give  a  true  account  of  divine  action? 

Rationalistic  critics  deny  the  possibility  of  supernat- 
ural intervention  in  human  affairs,  and  when  therefore 
recoi'ds  of  it  occur  in  the  Scriptures,  they  put  them  in  the 
category  of  myths  and  fancy  sketches,  which,  in  moral 
and  didactic  worth,  stand  on  a  level  with  such  productions 
as  ^sop's  Fables  and  the  Tales  of  the  Arabian  Nights. 
The  question,  however,  ife  not  one  of  possibility,  but  of 
fact.  Conceding  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  infinite 
in  wisdom  and  power,  and  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his 
creatures,  all  the  supernatural  events  which  are  recorded 
in  Scripture  not  only  become  possible  hut  probable. 

That  God  has  i-evealed  himself  and  worked  miracles 
is  the  uniform  testimony  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  abounds 
in  statements  like  these:  "Jehovah  said  unto  Abraham," 
"Jehovah  spake  unto  Joshua,"  "Jehovah  said  unto  Sam- 
uel," "Jehovah  sent  them  thunder  and  hail.*  *  *  Jehovah 
rained  hail  upon  the  land  of  Egypt,"  "Jehovah  your  God 
dried  the  waters  of  Jordan  from  before  you  until  ye  were 
passed  over,  as  the  Lord  your  God  dried  up  the  Red  Sea, 
which  He  dried  up  from  before  you  until  ye  were  gone 
over."  The  Old  Testament  professes  to  give  a  history  in 
which  God  was  present  with  his  people,  i-evealing  himself 
to  them  in  various  ways,  and  accrediting  that  revelation 
of  himself  to  them  by  miracle  and  prophecy. 

The  one  supreme  purpose  of  the  Old  Testament  is 
confessedly  to  illustrate  the  teaching  and  working  of  God. 
The  only  question  which  concerns  us  is.  Are  these  claims 
respecting  itself  true  or  not?  The  fact  that  the  writers  of 
the  Old  Testament  have  been  so  entirely  correct  in  record- 
ing matters  of  common  human  knowledge  raises  a  strong 
presumption   in   favor   of   their  accuracy  in   claiming  to 


1 8  The  Old  Testament 

narrate  superhuman  events.  They  were  in  the  highest 
degree  under  the  control  of  the  spirit  of  truth  and  had  a 
reputation  for  the  strictest  moral  integrity.  The  Scrip- 
ture contains  the  supernatural  element.  It  needs  to  be 
accounted  for.  Our  contention  is  that  it  cannot  be  ex- 
plained on  natural  principles,  buL  that  the  testimony  of 
the  writers  of  Scripture  in  assigning  it  to  divine  agency 
must  be  accepted  as  true.  The  argument  is  too  lengthy 
for  full  treatment  here.  A  few  points  onlj'  can  be  men- 
tioned. 

i.st.  The  truth  contained  in  the  record  of  creation  is 
clearly  a  matter  of  revelation.  Professor  Hitcucock  said 
that  its  substantial  truth  "is  generally  admitted  among 
all  scientific  men."  How  did  the  writer  of  Genesis  obtain 
that  true  information.  He  was  not  a  personal  witness  of 
the  work  of  creation.  God  is  the  only  being  who  knew 
all  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  He  must  therefore  have 
revealed  them.  The  accurate  record  of  creation  therefore 
gives  clear  proof  of  Divine  intervention.  When  it  is  seen 
to  be  true  we  know  it  to  be  divine. 

2nd.  The  spiritual  significance  of  Old  Testament 
truth  proves  its  spiritual  origin. 

1.  The  immaculate  character  with  which  it  invests 
God  is  above  human  conception.  He  is  not  merely  free 
from  faults,  but  radiant  in  virtue,  intensely  active  in  all 
that  is  good.  He  cannot  "look  on  iniquity;"  "neither  shall 
evil  dwell  with  Him."  How  did  the  Old  Testament  writers 
come  by  this  idea  of  God  as  a  Being  of  ineffable  holiness, 
infinitely  pure,  righteous  and  just?  The  gods  of  the  ethnic 
faiths  are  hideously  immoral.  They  are  human  creations. 
Man's  views  of  God  have  invariably  deteriorated.  God 
only  can  give  a  true  knowledge  of  himself,  and  the  fact 
that  the  Old  Testament  presents  God  correctly  as  ineffa- 
bly holy  and  infinite  in  goodness  and  truth  is  proof  that 
He  communicated  this  knowledge  of  himself  to  its  authors. 

2.  Tlie  dark  colors  in  which  sin  is  portrayed,  as  that 
abominable  thing  which  God  hates  and  which  deprives  the 
best  of  men  of  all  right  of  approach  to  Him,  show  it  to  be 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  19 

a  matter  of  revelation.  None  but  a  holy  God  could  cor- 
rectly estimate  the  damaj^e  done  by  transgressing  his 
righteous  law.  The  sinner  is,  by  disposili<jn  and  self-in- 
terest, wholly  incapable  of  truly  defining  sin. 

3.  The  Old  Testament  plan  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin 
on  the  basis  of  a  vicarious  atonement  is  supernatural.  The 
shedding  of  blood  is  made,  not  by  the  cost  of  the  victim 
but  by  the  will  of  God,  the  method  of  procuring  pardon. 
This  opens  the  door  of  hope  for  all  sinners,  and  points 
forward  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  for  the  sin  of  the  world. 
This  method  of  pardon  is  so  deep  and  mysterious  that,  if 
God  had  not  revealed  it,  man  would  never  have  thought 
of  it.  He  has,  by  nature,  always  been  in  deadlj  hostility 
to  it. 

4.  The  spiritual  aim  and  efficacj'  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment bespeak  a  divine  origin  for  its  contents.  It  does 
more  than  repi-ess  evil  or  deter  from  crime.  It  "'breathes 
a  high  moral  earnestness,  a  pure  and  holy  spirit."  It 
makes  the  spiritual  supreme,  subordinating  all  earthlj' 
interests  to  it,  inculcating  high  religious  ideals,  and  pres- 
sing hard  on  the  scrupulously  conscientious.  It  seeks  to 
make  man  right  in  all  his  earthly  relations  on  the  basis  of 
having  him  right  first  of  all  with  his  God.  The  Lord 
commanded  Moses  to  say  to  the  people  in  his  name.  "If 
ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed  and  keep  my  covenant,  then 
shall  ye  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto  me  above  all  people; 
for  all  the  earth  is  mine;  and  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  king- 
dom of  priests  and  a  holy  nation."  '-Thou  shalt  love  Je- 
hovah thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  might, 
and  with  all  thy  strength."  A  theory  of  conduct  so  lofty 
was  never  originated  by  mortal  man. 

Moreover,  the  Old  Testament  has  a  more  than  human 
insight  into  the  deepest  religious  needs  of  man  and  has 
provided  for  them  with  a  divine  eflicacy.  It  awakens  the 
religious  sense  and  satisfies  it.  Revealing  to  him  his  guilt 
and  helplessness,  it  does  not  leave  him  to  sink  into  des- 
pair but  inspires  him  with  hope  by  disclosing  the  loving- 
kindness    of    God  on    the   basis   of    which   forgiveness, 


io  The  Old  Testament 

reconciliation  and  a  new  life  are  made  possible.  It  quick- 
ens man's  heart  to  repent,  to  have  confidence  in  God,  to 
forsake  the  evil  and  cleave  to  the  good  and,  while  filling 
the  soul  with  divine  peace,  furnishes  also  a  constant  stim- 
ulus to  aspire  after  higher  degrees  of  holy  living.  The 
fruits  of  this  discipline  have  been  of  the  richest  kind.  It 
produced  the  holy  men  whose  lives  are  mirrored  in  the 
Psalms  and  the  Prophets.  It  made  saints  like  Abraham, 
Samuel,  David,  Elijah,  Isaiah  and  Daniel. 

Wnence  came  this  Old  Testament  truth  which  antici- 
pated man's  wants  so  fuHy  and  satisfied  them  so  com- 
pletely? The  only  reasonable  answer  is  that  God  revealed 
it  for  man's  guidance. 

Higher  Criticism  contends  that  the  prophets  preceded 
the  law,  and,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  gradually  devel- 
oped it.  But  how  did  the  prophets  come  by  their  deep 
spiritual  knowledge  and  their  intense  moral  earnestness 
if  they  did  not  receive  it  from  the  quickening  power  of 
God's  revealed  truth  in  the  law  of  Moses?  The  religious 
convictions,  activity  and  experiences  contained  in  the 
Psalms  and  Prophets  can  be  adequately  explained  only 
on  the  previous  knowledge  of  the  Mosaic  law  which  under- 
lies the  thought  and  life  of  the  whole  Old  Testament.  It 
is  God's  teaching  and  guiding  to  bring  man  out  of  sin  to 
Himself.  This  view  receives  added  strength  from  the 
obvious  fact  that  the  Old  Testament  sustains  a  designed 
relation  to  the  Gospel.  The  law  and  Gospel  make  each 
other  mutually  intelligible,  yet  the  one  could  not  be 
inferred  naturally  from  the  other.  The  close  connection 
between  them  is  a  miraculous  one,  and  discloses  a  far- 
reaching  plan  of  God. 

That  God  has  come  to  man  and  spoken  to  him  are  facts 
which  are  also  attested  by  substantial  miracles.  A  revela- 
tion cannot  be  delivered  by  anybody.  It  can  only  be  by 
one  whose  mind  has  been  divinely  prepared  to  receive  the 
message  of  God,  and  one  whom  He  authenticates  to  men. 
Obviously  it  requires  the  supernatural  credibly  to  authen- 
ticate the   supernatural.      Hence   the   need  ol   miracles. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  2  i 

They  are  reasonable  because  necessary  to  accredit  the 
agents  through  whom  God  made  His  revelations.  They 
do  not  appear  at  random  in  all  parts  of  the  Old  Testament, 
but  only  at  crucial  epochs  as  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs. 
Moses.  Samuel,  Elijah  and  Daniel,  when  the  exigencies  of 
God's  kingdom  required  his  especial  interposition.  They 
were  the  credentials  of  his  ambassadors,  authenticating 
the  message  which  was  delivered  by  them;  and  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  these  men  always  ascribed  the  miracles 
which  were  wrought  through  them  to  the  power  of  God. 

We  have  found  them  to  be  truthful  historians,  too 
intelligent  and  honest  knowingly  to  recojd  falsehood,  and 
therefore  the  only  way  open  to  deny  the  reality  of  mira- 
cles is  by  impeaching  the  consciousness  of  these  men  and 
say  that  they  were  deceived.  Is  that  possible?  Shall  we 
say  that  men  like  Moses,  Samuel,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah.  Dan- 
iel, yes,  and  Christ  himself,  were  under  illusion?  This 
will  finally  bring  us  face  to  face  with  the  alternative  .con- 
tained in  Auberlin's  question:  "Is  the  world  a  lunatic 
asylum,  or  is  it  the  temple  of  the  living  God?  Tirtium  non 
datur.'"  Right  reason  unites  with  Scripture  in  affirming 
that  it  is  a  temple  of  the  living  God. 

3rd.  Prophecy  furnishes  another  line  of  evidence  for 
the  presence  of  the  supernatural  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Thejjrophet  was  one  who  spake  for  God.  His  message, 
whether  it  referred  to  the  past,  present  or  future,  was 
divinely  imparted  to  him.  Prophecy  in  its  predictive 
sense  particularly  discloses  an  understanding  of  the  future 
which  is  possible  to  infinite  wisdom  only,  and  is  therefore 
a  miracle  of  knowledge. 

Isaiah,  for  instance,  in  his  21st  chapter,  predicts  the 
overthrow  of  Babylon  by  the  Medo  Persian  power,  giving 
a  number  of  particulars  whereby  the  prophecy  can  be 
identified.  Some  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterwards  this 
prediction  was  literally  fulfilled. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  Micah,  the   prophet  foretells- 

1  The  Divine  Reveiatlon,  psge  180. 


ii  Tlxe  Old  Testament 

the  captivity  of  Judah  more  than  a  hundred  years  before 
it  occurred. 

The  knowledge  of  the  future  is  especially  disclosed 
in  the  Messianic  pro^Jhecies.  The  character,  work  and 
sufferings  of  Christ  were  minutely  portrayed  centuries 
before  his  advent.  The  53i-d  chapter  of  Isaiah  narrates  a 
detailed  arrangement  in  regard  to  the  mediatorial  work  of 
Christ  which,  by  its  fulfillment  more  than  six  hundred 
years  afterward,  distinctly  bears  the  stamp  of  a  super- 
natural origin.  The  agreement  of  fulfillment  with  predic- 
tion is  clear  evidence  of  the  fact  that  God  spake  through 
the  prophet. 

The  types  of  the  Old  Testament,  of  which  we  have 
the  antitype  in  the  New,  are  evidence  of  the  same  truth. 
It  is  beyond  human  ingenuity  to  invent  a  type  before  the 
appearance  of  the  antitype;  and,  since  centuries  inter- 
vened between  the  two,  the  correspondence  of  type  in  the 
Old  Testament  with  the  antitype  in  the  New,  is  conclusive 
proof  of  divine  plan  and  origin. 

The  supernatural  in  the  Old  Testament  is  therefere  a 
reality.  It  is  a  demonstrated  fact.  It  occurs  throughout 
these  Scriptures  in  well  accredited  forms  of  revelation, 
miracle,  prophecy  and  type,  and  they  are  therefore  shown 
to  be  reliable  in  their  narration  of  supernatural,  as  well 
as  in  that  of  common  events. 

III.  Finally,  tlieir  iilenarij  insinration.  By  inspiration 
we  mean  that  special  divine  influence  on  the  human  mind 
which  secures  the  accurate  transmission  of  truth,  by 
speaker  or  writer,  whether  that  truth  has  been  divinely 
revealed  or  obtained  through  the  ordinary  channels  of 
human  observation  and  experience;  while  revelation  has 
reference  to  that  direct  Divine  influence  by  which  the 
truth  of  God  is  imparted  to  man. 

As  it  relates  to  the  Old  Testament,  we  say  that  the 
writings  of  it  are  fully  inspired  of  God,  so  that,  while  not 
excluding  but  including  the  human  activity,  they  are  in  a 
true  sense  the  word  of  God.  The  writings  contain  the 
divine   and   human   elements   in   combination,  the  divine 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship .  25 

controllinfr  the  human  to  the  extent  of  securing  truthful- 
ness. "Men  spake  from  God.  being  moved  by  tiie  Holy 
Spirit." 

It  miglit  be  taken  for  granted  that,  since  God  intend- 
■ed  the  Scriptures  to  be  a  permanent  and  authoritative 
record  of  his  i-evealed  word,  in  which  men  might  always 
trust  with  assured  certainty.  He  would  give  that  special 
help  to  the  sacred  writers  which,  in  embodying  this  truth 
in  a  permanent  written  form,  would  keep  them  free  from 
all  the  errors  and  follies,  the  faults  and  failings,  which 
mar  the  best  of  human  literatui'e.  The  exigencies,  which 
made  revealed  truth  a  necessity,  demanded  with  equal 
urgency  that  it  should  be  accurately  communicated  under 
special  Divine  superintendence  to  assure  men  of  the  fact 
that  the  record  conveyed  a  veritable  message  from  God. 
The  writing  needed  something  extraordinary  in  order 
that  it  might  be  invested  with  that  peculiar  authoritj' 
which  should  elicit  the  confidence  of  men  in  its  divine 
revelation.  Truth  divinely  imparted  to  the  mind,  but 
transmitted  in  a  fallible  human  record,  would  not  answer 
the  purpose,  nor  does  that  conception  of  Scripture  com- 
port witli  all  the  phenomena  which  it  exhibits. 

1.  For  one  thing,  in  a  large  part  of  Scripture,  his- 
tory and  revelation,  natural  facts  and  events  and  super- 
natural truths  and  agencies,  are  so  inextricably  interwoven 
in  the  text  of  Scripture,  that  it  is  impossible  to  separate 
them.     The  divine  and  human  are  in  living  union. 

We  have  an  instance  of  this  in  the  record  of  creation. 
Its  scientific  accuracy  is  proof  not  only  of  its  divine  origin 
but  of  its  inspiration  as  well.  Words  are  used  with  unfail- 
ing accuracy.  In  regard  to  the  origin  of  things,  it  intro- 
duces the  two  ideas  of  causation  and  developement  with 
scientific  precision.  The  primary  existence  of  matter,  of 
life  and  of  man  it  ascribes  to  God,  the  first  great  Cause  of 
all  things,  and.  in  respect  to  them,  uses  the  strong  verb 
"bara,"  create,  which  expresses  the  most  absolute  kind  of 
making;  while  in  reference  to  the  idea  of  developement 
the  milder  term  "asa,"  is  employed.    Sir  William  Dawson 


24  The  Old  Testament 

asks,  "How  did  this  ancient  writer  escape  the  mental 
confusion  which  clouds  the  minds  of  so  many  clever  men 
of  our  time?"  They  escaped  it  by  means  of  the  supernat- 
ural illumination  and  help  which  they  enjoyed.  "By 
proving  the  record  to  be  true,"  says  Professor  Dana, 
"science  pronounces  it  divine;  for  who  could  have  cor- 
rectly narrated  the  secrets  of  eternity  but  God  himself  ?"i 

The  same  is  true  of  the  Law,  Prophecy  and  Type. 
They  are  inseparably  bound  up  with  the  history  in  which 
they  ajDpear.  Most  of  them  were  confessedly  given  iu 
the  words  of  God;  and,  in  respect  to  all  of  them,  it  is  to 
be  said  that  the  truth  which  they  convey  is  so  far  above 
the  unaided  powers  of  the  human  mind  that  man  could 
never  have  expressed  it  correctly  in  language.  These 
parts  of  Scripture  are  adequately  explained  only  by  say- 
ing, "God  spake  all  these  words." 

This  view  is  greatly  strengthened  by  the  considera- 
tion that  through  all  these  Scriptures  there  runs  a  remark- 
able unity  of  plan  and  purpose  to  which  all  their  parts, 
great  and  small,  are  subordinated.  And  when  we  remem 
ber  that  these  old  documents  were  the  product  of  many 
writers,  differently  qualitied  and  living  in  different  lands 
and  centuries,  between  whom  collusion  was  impossible,  it 
must  be  apparent  that  we  can  account  for  this  unity  on 
no  other  view  than  that  these  authors  wrote  according  to 
the  mind  of  the  one  superintending  Spirit  of  God. 

2.  The  historical  and  scientific  accuracy  of  Scripture 
predicate  its  plenary  inspiration.  Human  memory  may 
be  trusted  in  a  general  way,  but  not  in  respect  to  minute 
exactness  in  so  many  details. 

History  and  science  have  severely  tested  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  at  numerous  points.  Their  latest 
discoveries  have  failed  to  overthrow  them  in  a  single 
point,  but  have  confirmed  them  in  many  with  striking 
•  exactness.  Wherever  there  is  opportunity  for  fair  com- 
parison, minute  accuracy  is  shown  to  be  their  unique 
excellence.     No   fact  in   Scripture   is  more    remarkable 

1  Bibliotheea  Sacra,  1878,  p.  342. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarshii) .  25 

than  this.  The  Bible  is,  in  this  respect.  THE  BOOK, 
pre-eminent  over  all  others  in  point  of  veracity.  This 
supreme  excellence  of  the  Bible  is  a  fact  which  must  be 
taken  into  consideration  in  the  effort  to  determine  its 
origin.  Why  is  it  that  truth  is  stamped  on  the  very  warp 
and  woof  of  this  book?  You  may  take  the  productions  of 
the  most  accomplished  writeis  of  history  and  science  in 
our  day,  and,  without  difficulty,  discover  numerous  errors 
in  every  one  of  them.  Yet  the  Old  Testament,  which  was 
composed  in  an  unscientific  age,  when  the  art  of  writing 
was  in  its  comparative  infancy,  making  statements  on  a 
large  variety  of  subjects,  often  incidentally  only,  is  found 
invariably  to  be  strictly  correct.  How  could  these  men 
write  true  science  before  the  birth  of  science?  How  could 
they  so  uniformly  connote  natural,  geographical  and  eth- 
nological facts  with  absolute  correctness  before  any  of 
these  sciences  were  systematized?  It  is  due  10  the  insyjir- 
atiou  of  God.     They  were  divinely  helped. ^ 

The  fact  that  these  Scriptures  were  not  the  productof 
one,  but  of  many,  human  authors,  during  sixteen  centur- 
ies, makes  this  phenomenon  still  more  remarkable.  We 
do  not  believe  that  any  one  man  ever  possessed  a  genius 
so  great  or  endowments  so  extraordinary  that  he  could 
naturally  have  written  with  such  uniform  truthfulness. 
but  the  marvel  is  vastly  enhanced  and  the  explanation 
proportionately  more  difficult  on  the  basis  of  many  writ- 
ers. Can  there  be  any  other  satisfactory  explanation 
than  that  these  authors  of  Scripture  were  guarded  against 

1  "If  the  Bible  is  thoroughly  true  and  reliable  mot  taking  into  account  mere 
copyists'  errors),  then,  making  allowance  only  for  such  imperfect  statements  of  the 
truth  or  such  imperfect  commands  as  were  required  by  the  cnndition  of  the  roeti  to 
whom  it  was  given  we  have  before  us  this  prodigy:  that  during  the  lapse  of  many 
centuries  a  number  of  writers,  of  dill'erent  personal  character  and  of  every  variety 
of  culture  and  position,  writing  with  such  freedom  that  their  idiosyncrasies  are 
plainly  to  be  seen,  and  unhesitatingly  touching  upon  every  subject  that  came  in 
their  way— historical,  ethnological.  arch;eologicttl,  scieiilitie,  and  moral- have 
been  preserved  from  error.  This  result  could  not  have  had  place  in  writings  of  hu- 
man origin.  Is  there  any  other  logical  conclusion  from  this,  than  that,  whatever 
else  be  or  be  not  the  function  of  inspiration,  its  scope  included  the  preservation  of 
the  Bible  from  error,  and  the  giving  to  man  of  a  book  on  which  he  may  rely  abso- 
lutely as  the  word  of  God?"  Professor  Frederick  Gardner  in  "Aids  to  Scripture 
Study,"  page  62. 


2  6  The  Old  Testament 

error  and  quickened  to  write  truth  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  Divine  Author  of  the  Scriptures? 

The  conclusion  thus  reached  is  all  the  more  irresist- 
able  when  we  stop  to  consider,  what  is  everywhere  appar'- 
-ent  in  the  Scripture,  that  this  accuracy  was  not  the  result 
of  plan  and  study  on  the  part  of  its  writers.  They  were 
seemingly  unconscious  of  it.  Their  minds  were  supreme- 
ly engaged  with  the  import  of  the  great  truths  which  God 
was  communicating  through  them.  There  come  out  of 
these  Scriptures  therefore,  a  unity,  harmony  and  truth- 
fulness which  did  not  lie  in  the  consciousness  of  their 
authors,  and  they  must,  for  this  added  reason,  be  ascribed 
to  the  superintendence  of  the  Divine  Spii'it. 

We  see  then  that  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Old 
Testament  may  be  predicated  from  a  careful  induction  of 
all  the  facts  and  truths  which  are  fornd  in  its  own  pages. 

3.  Tljis  doctrine,  thus  established,  is  further  con- 
firmed by  the  testimony  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is 
sometimes  contended  that  we  cannot  prove  the  inspiration 
of  Scripture  by  its  own  testimony;  but  the  two  Testaments 
are  separated  from  each  other  by  centuries,  and,  as  wit- 
nesses, they  are  therefore  independent  of  each  other.  It 
would  be  entirely  proper  to  formulate  a  doctrine  respect- 
ing the  Old  Testament  from  expressions  concerning  it  in 
the  New.  But  when  the  New  Testament  corroborates  a 
doctrine  which  lies  embedded  in  the  Old,  its  testimony 
must  be  accepted  as  final  and  conclusive. 

In  respect  to  the  Old  Testament  Paul  said,  "All  scrip- 
ture is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,"  or,  is  God-breathed. 
True,  this  is  the  only  explicit  statement  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament on  the  subject;  but,  since  what  it  here  categorical- 
ly afSrms  is  necessarily  to  be  inferred  from  all  its  refer- 
ences to  the  Old,  the  declaration  of  Paul  fairly  voices  its 
view  respecting  the  Old  Testament.  The  New  Testament 
teaches  therefore  that  the  entire  Old  Testament  is  inspir- 
ed of  God. 

It  also  expresses  the  opinion  of  Christ  himself.  In 
his  view,  God  was  the  Author  of  it,  and  for   that   reason. 


in  the  Light  of  Modern  Scholarship.  27 

He  held  it  to  be  absolutely  true  and  reliable.  What  it 
said.  He  regarded  as  having  been  said  by  God  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  therefore  ever  jiroved  by  these  Scrip- 
tures what  the  will  of  God  was.  The  words  of  the  Old 
Testament  were  to  Him  coextensive  with  the  words  of 
God.  "It  is  written,"  was,  in  his  view,  equivalent  to 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord."  He  quoted  incidental  passages  of 
Scripture  as  conclusive  in  argument.  The  Scripture  was 
the  only  authority  to  which  He  deferred,  and  He  deferred 
to  it  in  the  minutest  points. 

Jesus  then  affirmed  an  inspiration  for  the  Old  Testa- 
which  was  of  the  most  plenary  kind.  His  comi)etence 
and  qualification  for  teaching  the  true  doctrine  of  Scrip- 
ture must  be  admitted.  He  came  to  give  to  the  world  the 
tinal  revelation  of  divine  truth,  and  his  clear  statement, 
therefore,  on  any  doctrine,  must  be  the  end  of  all  contro- 
versy among  His  people. 

He  solemnly  affirmed,  "My  teaching  is  not  mine,  but 
his  that  sent  me."  He  spake  not  from  himself  but  accord- 
ing to  the  Father's  commandment.  In  speaking  to  the 
Father  of  His  finished  work,  he  said,  "I  have  given  them 
Thy  word,"  and  make  the  reception  of  his  message  the 
test  of  true  discipleship  in  these  words:  "Now  they  know 
that  all  things  whatsoever  Thou  hast  given  me  are  from 
Thee:  for  the  words  which  Thou  gavest  me  I  have  given 
unto  them;  and  they  received  them,  and  know  of  a  truth 
that  I  came  forth  from  Thee,  and  tliey  believed  that  Thou 
didst  send  me." 

We  still  have  the  Old  Testament  then  in  its  full  inte- 
grity, and,  with  it  also,  the  New,  of  which  it  is  the  found- 
nation.  God  is  still  speaking  to  men  in  its  holy  lessons,  its 
sacred  history,  its  divine  institutions,  its  devout  psalms 
and  inspired  prophecy,  for  comfort  in  life's  lessons,  for 
the  confirmation  of  faith,  and  for  guidance  into  the  full 
knowledge  of  New  Testament  truth. 

These  scriptures  are  the  word  of  God.  true  from  be- 
ginning to  end.  They  have  been  tested  and  proved.  As- 
sailed by  powers  numerous   and  mighty,  they  stand  firm 


28  The  Old  Testament 

as  the  impregnable  rock  of  eternal  truth.  Their  truth- 
fulness is  authenticated  by  the  light  which  streams  from 
their  own  pages  and  is  corroborated  by  miracle  and  pro- 
phecy, by  modern  research,  and  by  the  testimony  of  our 
Lord  and  his  Apostles. 

The  neglect  of  the  study  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
avenging  itself  in  the  helplessness  of  the  Church  to  ward 
off  hostile  attacks  made  upon  it.  But  God  is  wonderfully 
confirming  its  Verity  by  means  of  the  discoveries  made  in 
a  wide  range  of  scholarly  investigat'ons. 

It  is  now  seen  that  a  rationalistic  criticism  had  accept- 
ed mere  conjecture  for  knowledge,  and  had  reached  con- 
clusions antagonistic  to  the  veracity  of  Scripture  on  the 
basis  of  an  unsound  deduction.  Signs  are  multiplying 
which  indicate  that  the  rationalistic  criticism  is  approach- 
ing its  Waterloo. 

But  the  corrective  for  these  erroneous  views  will  be 
found  in  a  deeper  study  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  light  of 
all  the  evidence  which  God  is  accumulating  for  their  de- 
fense. Being  the  word  of  God,  the  Bible  shrinks  from  no 
test,  it  welcomes  light  from  every  source,  and  desires 
above  all  things  to  be  searched  and  tested  that  it  may 
commend  itself  to  the  faith  of  men.  We  honestly  receive 
and  teach  this  Old  Testament  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
God's  truthful  word  which,  in  union  with  the  New,  light- 
ens up  the  way  of  life  with  unfailing  certainty.  Other 
books  come  and  go,  empires  rise  and  decay,  but  the  word 
of  God  is  invested  with  the  vigor  of  immortal  youth  and 
abides  forever. 


^:> L__ 


